Women's Voices Unite

May 20, 2010

Sales of this book have been suspended by the publisher in response to legal action threatened by the author's estranged ex-husband.

11 On My Ownis a story of one woman’s pain; pain from three failed marriages, betrayal, and abuse, but mostly pain from a source which was created to alleviate it; the Family Court System. A mother of eleven children, deserted by her husband, Kristin Luscia is left without means to support her eleven children in a dilapidated home that is subject to an impending foreclosure. Kristin’s ex-husband owes her over $66,000 in child support, and has paid none of it. Yet the court continues to insist that he has ‘rights’ to see his children bi-weekly, at least those he hasn’t managed to alienate yet. Ted has warrants out for his arrest that haven’t been served, and yet he manages to show up in court unscathed. He is the Teflon Deadbeat Dad. This is the tragically unjust outcome of Kristin’s exhausting three years in the Family Court System of Connecticut.

Rights for men and poverty for women. Sadly it’s a familiar story from my days as a Social Worker at Catholic Charities in New York. One case stands out from 25 years ago; the wife of a cardiologist, living in a mansion without heat, where she and three small children were reduced to living in the living room heated by a kerosene heater, keeping warm under quilts, came to me seeking food for her family for Christmas Day. The not- so-good doctor had fled to warmer climes with his girlfriend, emptying the bank accounts, leaving his wife with nothing but a Bloomingdale’s credit card. You can’t buy food at Bloomies, so her children were well-dressed, and hungry. His lawyer settled the child support while he was on medical leave for an operation, and without income. The doctor had NO legal obligation to support his children. According to Family Court, two years later, while touring his hospital, the same doctor boasted about his large donations to charity. Bound by confidentiality, I replied icily, “Charity begins at home, pal!” Both men planned the abandonment of their families by cleaning out the joint bank accounts. When their wives fought for support, they discovered that their husbands could afford better lawyers, thanks to their theft of mutuallly held funds.

Addressing this widespread problem though her personal crisis, Kristin speaks in a colloquial voice as she describes her situation, and takes the reader back to her childhood as an only child of adoptive parents. She tells the story of her troubled marriage to a narcissistic sociopath with candor and without self pity. Far from the latest blame-my-mother book, 11 On My Own is set apart by Kristin’s humble admission of own her role in her disastrous marriages. This as well as the frequent references to Canon Law, Papal Encyclicals, and The Catechism of the Catholic Church, makes 11 On My Own somewhat akin to Confessions of St Augustine, to whom she dedicates this book.

St Augustine said:

“I came to You late, O Beauty so ancient and new. I came to love You late … You were with me but I was not with You. You called me, You shouted to me, You wrapped me in Your Splendor, You broke past my deafness, You bathed me in Your Light. . . You touched me, and I burned to know Your Peace.”

Kristin says;

There is hope for me, thank God. No sin of mine (or anyone’s) is greater than God’s love. No matter what your past has been, we can begin anew.”

Despite disturbing descriptions of abuse suffered, and intolerable legal injustice, ultimately 11 On My Own is a tale of hope. Hope that the reader can learn from the hardships that Kristin endured as a result of her own failings and that of her husbands. Hope that readers will learn that it’s never too late to make a fresh start. If ever there were an important message to a world with a 50% divorce rate, it’s this one.

Highly recommended for adults and mature teens, due to a sprinkling of four letter words, and sexual references. This may be just the book your son or daughter needs to read before heading into a disastrous life decision.

In the interests of full disclosure, I must tell you that I am the Leticia whom Kristin mentions in the last line of her book, and who wrote the blurb on the book’s back cover.

I came to know Kristin within the past year, through our daughters’ friendship. I was impressed by her children, as well as her determination that she not surrender to bitterness, despite the terrible events they have endured. It was the witness of her beautiful family and the enormity of the injustice she has endured at the hands of the courts which prompted me to support her book. May it be a blessing to you.

May 14, 2010

As you all know, last month I participated in the poetry challenge over at readwritepoem.org. I was sitting here, this morning, thinking, "What will I blog about?" I hopped over to readwritepoem to see if there was any news on the anthology. I'm not sure how many people were writing poems last month, but I expected to see more than 75 names. Congrats to all the poets who will be published in the anthology. I know from personal experience it was a long month and a well earned award.

April dragged on and now that it is May, the time is evaporating too quickly. I only have one more week of peace and quiet before my girls are out for summer break. Since I spent a lot of time online last month, I've been avoiding the computer as much as possible this month. Instead I've been doing a LOT of reading, Rick Riordan. My daughters have gotten into the Percy Jackson series. I've read all of those books, and I'm reading his Tres Navarre series too. Of course Mr. Riordan hooked me when he mentioned Joshua Chamberlain in the second Percy Jackson book. I love civil war history. When my Little One was doing her civil war project, she kept asking me if Joshua Chamberlain was my boyfriend. I laughed. Apparently the fact he's been dead for over 100 years now doesn't matter.

If you happen to be looking for me next week, don't bother; I'll be reading. :D

April 07, 2010

In a nightly, well almost nightly, ritual the kids and I all pile into bed and read one story each-if we‘ve had a super fantastic day I even toss in an extra book.

I can’t imagine finishing our day any other way. For as long as I can remember we’ve read book together, starting with simple picture books then moving on to rhyming books and now we are reading chapter books. Many times, the kids have already read the book on their own, but want to hear it out loud.

Recently read our way through the Mouse and the Motorcycle and the kids hung on every word. It was such fun to revisit a book that I loved as a child.

Reading to the kids is fun, I never think of it as a chore, although, sometimes if I have a cold making it through the stories takes a couple of lozenges.

I admit to being the kind of mom who does the voices from the books and editorializes about the characters, more then once I have pointed out that Junie B. Jones is a little to sassy for my taste.

I love the wide variety of books available. As the reader, I gravitate towards fun books…simply because I choke up reading sad or emotional books (yes, even happy books make me cry).

There have been times that I am fighting off tears as I finish reading a book and the kids can hear it in my voice and are peering at me asking me if I am okay. A few nights ago, I was sniffling my way through the ending of Ginger Jumps and one of the kids ran to get me a tissue!

I am the same way with the kid’s movies; really, it is rather embarrassing to be brought to tears by an animated car!

I love going to the library and searching through the stacks looking for that perfect book…nothing makes my day more then finding a new book by one of our favorite authors.

We love the adventures of Skippy Jon Jones and we certainly want the Pigeon to get a Puppy.

As the twins approach 9 years old I realize that our special reading time is ending. I am really going to miss that wonderful magical time with them. I hope that I can continue to sneak in the latest Skippy Jon Jones book even if it is interspersed with chapters from Harry Potter.

Jennifer is eagerly awaiting the next installment of her favorite kid’s books. She can be reached at flaten5@sbcglobal.net

March 24, 2010

The Historian, Elizabeth KostovaThis came recommended. Amazing story about the search for Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula, taking us back and forth through time, across Europe. Very engrossing tale. Dark, close, encompassing. Although, towards the end, the author seems to get a little lost in historical detail, which totally turned me off.

I hear this is to become a movie, slated sometime this year. Kind of expected that with all the vampires floating around showbiz.

The Help, Kathryn StockettI raved and raved to everyone and anyone who would listen about this book. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. This one also came recommended. So, thank you for that! (you know who you are) I expect this one to become a movie as well in the near future.It was so real, it was unbelievable. Set during the Civil Rights Movement in Jackson, Mississippi, it follows three young women, relating their tales of race relations from very different perspectives. This one stuck with me for weeks after I read it.

Eye Rhymes, Sylvia Plath's Art of the VisualI came across this book by accident, really, and found it for $5. Quite a bit of luck, considering it goes for around $50. I've only flipped through it, but what I've seen is really interesting. It just goes to show, there is more to a person than meets the eye. For those who have read anything Plath, you know that there has been much focus on her poetry (particularly the Ariel period) and her suicide/death, but little else. Only recently (within the past 10 years, probably) has there been material popping up on her dealing with the other sides of her life-and death.

March 15, 2010

“iPad…is the iPhone on steroids” Apple is releasing the first batch of WiFi only iPads around April of this year.
And then a couple of weeks later, there will be another model released with the
ability to work on the prepaid $30.00 per month (unlimited access) AT&T
cell network.

This one pound
seven ounce technology starts out around $ 499. For your money, you will get 16 gigabytes of
storage and 1 GHz of power. A Gigahertz is the transmission frequency of radio
signals in cycles per second. Another way to look at it, 1 GHz equals 1billion cycles
per second.

With over a
thousand sensors in the multi-touch 9.7-inch glass screen, it is also backlit
for a crisp look. Just like the iPhone, you can hold the device any-which-way
you want, and the screen flips around for your viewing pleasure.

Apple spouts the
battery life lasts a month on standby. In
spite of that, I think their most impressive claim is that during continuous
use (surf the net, e-mail or watch a movie) the battery will last 10
hours.Now that is some staying power!

With iPad, you
will have access to stores to obtain apps. An app (application) is a software program to
use on your mobile device, similar to going out to buy tax software and
installing it on your home computer. However, with the iPad you just go online
to the App Store and quickly snag it, you don’t have to brush your teeth nor
gas up the car. Pretty nifty huh?

Now, at the App
Store you can purchase anything from personal planners, games, or joke
programs. You can also buy music through the iTunes Store, or get a book at the
Book Store. There is 140,000 different apps you will have access to, some are
free while others you will have to pay for. Please note: You cannot multi task
on iPad because only one app can be open at a time.

Mind you, the
iPad is not a cell phone and as a matter of fact, it does not have a USB port
nor does it support the Flash program. In fact, it does not even have a slot to
place your camera’s SD card, a CD or DVD slot.

Nonetheless,
Apple has adapters for that! You may purchase iPad connector kits for your USB
and SD card or you can e-mail photos to your iPad but it will result in smaller
files that will distress the picture quality. The iPad has headphone jack to
use while watching movies or listening to music. Although the iPad keyboard is
about the same size as a laptop keyboard, Apple will be releasing a 30-pin
connection docking station that will allow you to use a traditional full size
keyboard or watch movies comfortably.

You are now armed
with all the data I could pick from the brain of my inside-source (shhhh…that
needs to be our little secret). Now you can make an intelligent purchase, or
not.